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Credit One Bank® NASCAR® Credit Card Review
The Credit One Bank® NASCAR® Credit Card is an unsecured rewards credit card structured for those with either bad to fair credit. The Credit One Bank® NASCAR® Credit Card offers a minimum credit line of $300, but this limit can be increased over time with good financial habits. For credit users who need to rebuild credit but don’t want to put down collateral for a secured credit card, this is a decent option that provides users with a solid rewards rate — up to 1% cash back rewards on eligible gas and automotive purchases and a guaranteed 2% back on NASCAR purchases.
What we like about the Credit One Bank® NASCAR® Credit Card
- Prequalification opportunity: A credit card application involves a hard inquiry on your credit, which can temporarily lower your credit score. If you apply for a new card and don’t have great credit, a rejected application is a double whammy — no new card to use and a lower credit score. The Credit One Bank® NASCAR® Credit Card offers applicants a prequalification step, so you can see the likelihood of being approved without risking your credit.
- Unauthorized charge protection: With zero fraud liability, NASCAR card members won’t be on the hook for charges they didn’t authorize.
- Free access to credit score: Each month, cardholders can monitor their Experian credit score and view a summary of their credit report.
- Flat-rate rewards: Enjoy 1% cash back rewards on eligible gas and automotive purchases. Earn double cash back at the NASCAR Shop.
Things to consider
- No introductory APR offer: Many other cards boast a 0% intro interest offer, but this card doesn’t. If you tend to carry a balance month to month, other cards might be a better choice. The card’s high APR 23.99% Variable can quickly impact your debt.
- Lots of fees: If you’re fee-averse, this might not be the right card for you. There are fees for adding an authorized user, using your card abroad and many other actions that can make this an expensive choice.
- Initial credit limit: Your initial credit limit may be as low as $300. If you have poor credit, you’ll pay a $39-$99 annual fee, which depending on the annual fee you receive will lower your credit limit.
- Fluctuating rewards structure: The rewards structure of the card is contingent upon your creditworthiness. If you have a lower credit score, you will have fewer benefits compared to a user with excellent credit.
Cash back details
There are two rewards structures available with the Credit One Bank® NASCAR® Credit Card that are dependent on your creditworthiness. If you have excellent credit, you can receive 1% cash back rewards on eligible gas and automotive purchases and double cash back at the NASCAR Shop. Points are automatically credited to your account. But if your credit isn’t great, you only receive 1% cash back on gas and card purchases. Luckily, you can still enjoy double cash back at the NASCAR Shop.
Fee details
The fees associated with the Credit One Bank® NASCAR® Credit Card are partially dependent on your creditworthiness. For example, your annual fee can vary from $39-$99. Other costs with this card include a $19 annual fee to add an authorized user to the account and another $19 to add a joint account owner. If you’re planning on using this card abroad, think again. Cardholders will pay a 3% foreign transaction fee per transaction for using the card in other countries.
If you send in a payment late, you can be charged up to $39 in penalty fees. Additionally, it’s important to make sure you send in your bill payments well in advance because Credit One Bank doesn’t process payments immediately and charges a $10 fee to do so.
How does it compare to other credit cards?
While the Credit One Bank® NASCAR® Credit Card delivers the ability to use credit without a security deposit, there are other choices with better terms in exchange for a refundable deposit. For example, the Secured Mastercard® from Capital One boasts no annual fee, a low minimum deposit and be automatically considered for a higher credit line in as little as 6 months with no additional deposit needed. For a slightly higher minimum deposit, the Citi® Secured Mastercard® is another good way to recover from financial mistakes and eventually qualify for an unsecured card.
| Card | Ongoing Purchase APR | Annual Fee | Intro Bonus | Credit Needed | Key features |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Credit One Bank® NASCAR® Credit Card | 23.99% Variable | $39-$99 | None | Bad to Fair |
|
| Secured Mastercard® from Capital One | 26.99% Variable | $0 | None | No Credit History |
|
| Citi® Secured Mastercard® | 22.49% variable | None | None | No Credit History |
|
Too long, didn’t read?
In the long run, a secured credit card that requires cardholders to put down their own refundable security deposit is typically cheaper than an unsecured card. But for credit users who can’t stomach the idea of collateral and want instant spending power, the can act as a financial stepping stone to better credit. With a high APR and some fees, this card requires you to pay off the balance in full each month if you want to make the most of its rewards.
Editorial Note: Compensation does not influence our recommendations. However, we may earn a commission on sales from the companies featured in this post. To view our disclosures, click here. Opinions expressed here are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by our advertisers. Reasonable efforts are made to present accurate info, however all information is presented without warranty. Consult our advertiser’s page for terms & conditions.
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Methodology
The SimpleScore is a proprietary scoring metric we use to objectively compare products and services at The Simple Dollar.
For every review, our editorial team:
- Identifies five measurable aspects to compare across each brand
- Determines the rating criteria for each aspect score
- Averages the five aspect scores to produce a single SimpleScore
Here’s a breakdown of the five aspect scores and their rating criteria for our review of the best money market accounts of 2020.
Why do some brands have different SimpleScores on different pages?
To ensure the SimpleScore is as helpful and accurate as possible, we developed unique criteria for every category we compare at The Simple Dollar. Since most brands offer a variety of financial solutions, their products and services will score differently depending on what we’re scoring on a given page.
However, it’s also possible for the same product from the same brand to have multiple SimpleScores. For example, if we look at CD products for Ally, it scores a 4.6 out of 5 for our CD SimpleScore metrics. However, when we apply the metrics we measure for money market account SimpleScores, Ally scores a 4.4 out of 5. These two different financial products have two separate SimpleScore metric ratings to account for differences between them. We adjust our ratings based on industry standards for each category.
Have questions about our methodology?
Email Hayley Armstrong at hayley@thesimpledollar.com.
Minimum deposit
We compared the required minimum deposit to open a money market account. The lower the minimum deposit, the higher the score.
APY
MMA holders want great returns on their investments. That’s why we awarded brands with higher APYs.
Customer satisfaction
We leveraged J.D. Power’s 2020 U.S. Retail Banking Satisfaction Study and 2020 U.S. Direct Banking Satisfaction Study to rate each brand for customer satisfaction. The higher the satisfaction score, the higher the SimpleScore.
Perks
Customers should be able to leverage their accounts, which is why we awarded brands that offer perks like ATM withdrawals, check-writing abilities, mobile check deposit and waived monthly fees.
Monthly fee
It’s annoying to pay to use your account. That’s why we awarded brands that have low or no monthly fees.
